Feed carrying apparatus

ABSTRACT

To provide a feed carrying apparatus  1  capable of considerably reducing the carrying resisting force at a corner  3   a  of a pipeline  3  and also capable of considerably reducing the cost of the whole apparatus, and capable of carrying feed S smoothly and efficiently. A corner joint  48  formed on a bent pipe part  51  with a plurality of projections  52  projecting inward is disposed at the corner  3   a  of the pipeline  3.  There is disposed a disk cable tension applying mechanism  271  in which a load corresponding to weight of a weight  277  is loaded to always urge fixed tension against a disk cable  2.  At a corner  303   a  of a pipeline  303  are disposed a drive device  304  having a drive motor  313  connected to a drive sprocket  316  constituting a corner joint  310,  or a drive device  404  having a drive sprocket  410  arranged away from an inclined wall  409   d  within a casing  409  formed with the inclined wall  409   d.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a feed carrying apparatus fordistributing feed for domestic animals to a number of feeding unitsthrough a pipeline from a feed hopper.

[0003] 2. Related Art Statement

[0004] Various kinds of feed carrying apparatuses provided withpipelines have been heretofore known. Conventional systems include, forexample, as shown in FIGS. 34 and 35, a system in which a pipeline 503is provided at one end with a feed charging port from a feed hopper 505,and disposed at the other end with a driving device 504, whereby acenterless auger 502 which is housed in the pipeline 503 and connectedto the driving device 504 is rotated by the driving device 504 to carryfeed S within the pipeline 503 and feed S are fallen down into thefeeding units 507 through feed falling-down pipes 506 from feedfalling-down ports; and a system in which the centerless auger 502 isnot rotated by the driving device 504 but forcibly fed to thereby carryfeed S present between coils 502 a of the centerless auger 502 withinthe pipeline 503.

[0005] In the system for carrying feed S making use of the centerlessauger 502, however, a winding pitch of the coils 502 a constituting thecenterless auger 502 need be set as small as possible in order tomaintain strength thereof. However, this poses a problem that whencoarse compositions of feed S are contained in the coils 502 a of thecenterless auger 502, carrying becomes disabled.

[0006] In order to overcome the problem as described above, there hasbeen known a disk cable system in which as shown in FIGS. 36 and 37, adisk cable 602 connected endlesswise is inserted into a pipeline 603,and the disk cable 602 is forcibly fed in a direction of arrow x by adriving device 604 to thereby carry feed S charged between disks 602 bof the disk cable 602 from a feed hopper 605 and distribute them tofeeding units 607 through feed falling-down pipes 606.

[0007] In the disk cable 602, as shown in FIG. 37, the disks 602 b aresecured to a flexible wire 602 a in a fixed spaced relations.

[0008] In this disk cable system also, carrying resistance is great atcorners 603 a where the pipeline 603 is bent substantially at rightangles (θ=90°) vertically or horizontally, and for reducing theresistance, corner joints 608 housing wheels 625 therein are disposed atthe corners 603 a, as shown in FIG. 38.

[0009] In the corner joint 608, as shown in FIG. 38, collars 619 a, 620a and 619 b, 619 b of covers 619, 620 are placed in contact and fastenedby bolts 621 and nuts 622 to thereby form a wheel receiving part 623 anda bent pipe part 624.

[0010] Further, in order to be able to reduce a great carrying resistingforce at the corners 603 a, a wheel 625 is rotatably supported by arotational shaft 626 in the wheel receiving part 623, a disk cable 602having disks 602 b secured to a flexible wire 602 a in a fixed spacedrelations is inserted into the bent pipe part 624, and the disk 602 b isplaced in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the wheel625 for movement.

[0011] In the drive device 604 or 664, as shown in FIGS. 39 or 40, adriving sprocket 640, 680 is disposed within a casing 639, 679, the diskcable 602 is extended over the sprocket 640, 680, and the drivingsprocket 640, 680 is driven by a driving motor 641, 681 to therebytravel the disk cable 602.

[0012] In order that the disk cable 602 is always tensed so as betraveled by the driving sprocket 640, 680 positively, a floating pulley642, 682 is disposed in the casing 639, 679, the disk cable 602 is alsoextended over the floating pulley 642, 682 and the floating pulley 642,682 is always tensed by a tension spring 643, 683 through a supportmember 644, 684 to constitute a disk cable tension applying mechanism651, 691 for applying tension to the disk cable 602.

[0013] On the other hand, there is known a feed carrying apparatuswherein in order to resist against a great carrying resisting force atthe corners 703 a, as shown in FIG. 42, corner joints 708 comprisingbent pipes having a relatively large radius of curvature are disposed atthe corners 703 a, and a plurality of drive devices 704 having arelatively small horse power are disposed directly before each of thecorners 703 a.

[0014] The drive device 704 is designed so that as shown in FIG. 43, adrive pulley 720 and a driven pulley 721 are disposed in a casing 719, adisk cable 602 is extended over the drive pulley 720, and the drivepulley 720 is driven by a drive motor to thereby travel the disk cable602.

[0015] In order that the disk cable 602 is not loosened but alwaystensed so as be traveled by the drive pulley 720 positively, a floatingpulley 722 is disposed in the casing 719, the disk cable 602 is alsoextended over the floating pulley 722, and the floating pulley 722 isalways raised by a compression spring 723 to constitute a disk cabletension applying mechanism 731 for suitably adjusting tension of thedisk cable 602.

[0016] However, in the disk cable system in which the corner joint 608having the wheel 625 housed therein is disposed, since an angle of anexternal angle of the bent pipe part 624 is formed to be substantiallyright angles (θ=90°), when the pipeline 603 is repetitively bentvertically or horizontally or when obstacles D, D are present halfway ofthe pipeline channel, as shown in FIG. 44, the pipeline 603 iscomplicatedly bent and the pipeline channel is also lengthened, becauseof which the load applied to the wire 602 a of the disk cable 602becomes so great as to possibly break the wire in a short period oftime.

[0017] Further, even the corner joint 608 having the wheel 625 housedtherein, feed S breaks in the wheel receiving part 623, and so, thewheel 625 may not be rotated smoothly so much, which also results inthat the load applied to the wire 602 a becomes excessively great.

[0018] In the system wherein the corner joint 608 having the wheelhoused therein is disposed at the corner 603 a, and the disk cabletension applying mechanism 651, 691 for pulling the floating pulley 642,682 by the tension spring 643, 683 is constituted, where the length ofthe disk cable 602 becomes elongated due to the use for a long period sothat the elongation exceeds a fixed length, the disk cable 602 isloosened so that the tension spring 643, 683 becomes contracted, failingto apply fixed tension to the disk cable 602.

[0019] If this condition is left, the disk cable 602 cannot be traveledpositively by the drive sprocket 640, 680 or, in the worst case, thedisk cable 602 is disengaged from the drive sprocket 640, 680, causingthe disk cable 602 not to travel at all. It has been thereforenecessary, after use for a long period, to separate the pipeline 603once, and cut the disk cable 602 to a suitable length so as to be ableto apply fixed tension.

[0020] Further, as shown in FIG. 39 or 40, since the floating pulley642, 682 is cantilevered by a support member 644, 684 and a supportshaft 642 a, 682 a it is sometimes that the support shaft 642 a, 682 aof the floating pulley 642, 682 is apt to be slightly displaced, andafter the use for a long period, the floating pulley 642, 682 cannot bepulled positively, or the floating pulley 642, 682 cannot be rotatedsmoothly.

[0021] In the conventional driving device 604, since the elastic forceof the tension spring 643 is changed in direction by two pulleys 646,646 through the wire 645 to transmit it to the floating pulley 642, itis sometimes that the elastic force is materially lowered by theresisting force at the contact part with the two pulleys 646, 646, orthe pulleys 646, 646 are not rotated due to the use for a long period,failing to apply the elastic force.

[0022] In the conventional driving device 664, in order to avoid thatthe disk cable 602 moving in a direction of y is superposed between thedrive sprocket 680 and the floating pulley 682 as shown in FIG. 40(A),the drive sprocket 680 is inclined at a fixed angle as shown in FIG.40(B). Because of this, where high tension is always applied to the diskcable 602, there is the possibility that the disk cable 602 isdisengaged from the drive sprocket 680.

[0023] Further, when the disk cable 602 becomes elongated due to the usefor a long period to weaken tension, even in usual time, when the diskcable 602 is greatly vibrated, it is sometimes that the disk cable 602is disengaged from the drive sprocket 680. Further, it is sometimes thatby some reason, high load is applied to the disk cable 602 as shown inFIG. 41(A), or the disk cable 602 become broken as shown in FIG. 41(B).

[0024] So, for the purpose of detecting the disengagement of the diskcable 602, the application of high load or the breakage, an operatinglever 686 is locked to the support member 684, and limit switches 687and 688 are arranged at a suitable position of the casing 679 to makemonitoring all the time. Then, where the disk cable 602 is disengaged,high load is applied, or breakage occurs, an operator immediately makesre-mounting or re-adjustment. However, since the disk cable 602 isextended over the drive sprocket 680 and the floating pulley 682, themounting and adjusting work was extremely troublesome.

[0025] Further, in the conventional driving device 604, 664, dispositionis necessary, in terms of mechanism, at a position where feed S israrely present in the pipeline 603, that is, at a position directlybefore the feed hopper 605 where feed S has been supplied to all thefeed units 607. However, the carrying of feed S cannot be made astheory. When feed S returned from the pipeline 603 is graduallyaccumulated in the driving device 604, 664 and moves into the coil partof the tension spring 643, 683 and the shafts of the drive sprocket 640,680 and the floating pulley 642, 682, these operations are caused to beobstructed.

[0026] The feed hopper 605 becomes so large in size as to be disposedexternally of a pigsty or a henhouse, and the driving device 604, 664 isnaturally disposed outdoors. So, water-proof processing need be done soas to prevent rain water from entry, and the casing 639, 679 was made ofstainless or covered with a sheet cover, but complete water-proof cannotbe achieved, and rain water or the like moves into the driving device604, 664 so that the drive sprocket 640, 680 and the floating pulley642, 682 become rusty, and the feed S becomes addled.

[0027] Further, in the conventional driving device 604, 664, only onedevice can be disposed at a position directly before the feed hopper605, and the length of the disk cable 602 driven is limited to about 200m, in terms of mechanism. So, it is necessary for carrying feed S to adistant place to provide a further feed carrying apparatus.

[0028] On the other hand, in the conventional corner joint 608, the disk602 b of the disk cable 602 moving in a direction of z comes in contactwith the outer circumferential surface of the wheel 625 and moves whilerotating the wheel 625 to, Thereby relieve the carrying resisting forceat the corner 603 a. However, when feed S enters the narrow wheelreceiving part 623 and becomes compressed, and the frictional resistingforce caused by feed S increases, the wheel 95 cannot be rotatedsmoothly.

[0029] As described above, the conventional corner joint 608 is not ableto relieve the carrying resisting force in the corner 603 a so much, andwhen the pipeline 603 becomes long and the corner 603 a increases, loadapplied to the disk cable 602 becomes excessively high so as to bepossibly broken in a short period of time. From a viewpoint of this, thepipeline 603 cannot be lengthened so much, and when the disk cable 602is broken, an operator has to make remounting immediately, beingextremely troublesome.

[0030] On the other hand, in the arrangement wherein the driving device704 is disposed directly before the corner 703 a, the circumferentialsurface of the disk 602 b of the disk cable 602 and the inner surface ofthe bent pipe joint 708 come in contact in a large area within thecorner joint 708 comprising a bend pipe, as shown in FIG. 45, and comein contact with the feed S also in a large area whereby the frictionalforce becomes extremely great, and the load applied to the wire 602 bbecomes excessively high.

[0031] Further, in the arrangement wherein the driving device 704 isdisposed directly before the corner 703 a, the cost of apparatus ishigh, and in addition, since the disk cable 602 is driven by a pluralityof driving device 704, a severe fine vibration occurs in the wire 602 ain both length and diametrical directions, resulting in application ofunnecessary load to the wire 602 a, and resulting in greater noises.

[0032] In the arrangement wherein a plurality of driving devices 704having a relatively small horse power are disposed directly before thecorners 703 a, and the disk cable tension applying mechanism 731 forraising the floating pulley 722 by the compression spring 723 isconstituted, even if the length of the disk cable 602 is elongated dueto the use for a long period, the pressing force of the compressionspring 723 is adjusted by the plurality of disk cable tension applyingmechanisms 731 to thereby apply fixed tension to the disk cable 602.

[0033] However, since the plurality of driving devices 704 having thedisk cable tension applying mechanisms 731 housed therein are disposed,the cost of the feed carrying apparatus 701 is extremely high. Further,since the disk cable 602 is driven by the plurality of driving devices704, a severe fine vibration occurs in the disk cable 602 in both lengthand diametrical directions, resulting in greater noises. Furthermore,since tension is adjusted by the plurality of disk cable tensionapplying mechanisms 731, the tension adjusting work requires a greatdeal of labor and time.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 43, since the contact angle between the drivepulley 720, the driven pulley 721 and the disk cable 602 is relativelysmall, the disk cable 602 is apt to be disengaged particularly in thedriven pulley 721 on the loosened side so that the situation that thedriving force of the drive motor is not transmitted occurs. Therefore, aswitch for detecting the loosening of the drive pulley 720 and thedriven pulley 721 is arranged, when the loosening is detected, the drivemotor is stopped. It becomes necessary to effect the work for extendingthe disk cable 602 over the drive pulley 720 and the driven pulley 721.

[0035] In the centerless auger system also, at the corner 503 a wherethe pipeline 503 is bent vertically or horizontally, the carryingresistance is great. However, in terms of constitution of the centerlessauger 502 comprising the coils 502 a, even the corner joint 608 havingthe wheel 625 housed therein is disposed at the corner 503 a, or eventhe corner joint 708 comprising a bent pipe having a relatively largeradius of curvature is disposed at the corner 503 a, or even the drivedevice 704 having a relatively small horse power is disposed immediatelybefore the corner 703 a, the effect of reducing the carrying resistancecan be rarely expected.

[0036] Accordingly, an attempt has been made so that the bent angle ofthe pipeline 503 at the corner 503 a is made to be considerably smallerthan the right angles (θ=90°) so as to reduce the carrying resistance atthe corner 503 a to some extent. As a result, the ability capable ofcarrying feed S is low, and in addition, the pipeline channel isunavoidably linear to fail to carry feed S efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0037] The present invention has been accomplished in order to solveproblems as seen in the above-described conventional feed carryingapparatuses, and has an object to provide a feed carrying apparatus inwhich by reducing the carrying resistance at a corner of a pipeline,loads applied to a wire of a disk cable, and coils of a centerless augerare reduced, the cost of apparatus is lowered, and feed can be carriedsmoothly and efficiently without occurrence of great noises.

[0038] For achieving the above object, a feed carrying apparatus of thepresent invention is characterized in that a corner joint formed with aplurality of projections which project inwardly is disposed on a bentpipe part.

[0039] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a feedcarrying apparatus in which even where the length of a disk cable iselongated due to the use for a long period, fixed tension can be appliedto the disk cable always without cutting the disk cable in length orwithout requiring a great deal of labor and time for tension adjustingwork, and the disk cable can be traveled by a drive sprocket positively.

[0040] It is another object of the present invention to provide a feedcarrying apparatus which is not high in cost, free from noises caused bya fine vibration of the disk cable, and which requires no specialdetection mechanism.

[0041] For achieving the above object, the feed carrying apparatus ofthe present invention is characterized in that a tension applyingmechanism is disposed in which a load corresponding to weight of aweight is loaded whereby fixed tension is always applied to the diskcable.

[0042] It is another object of the present invention to provide a feedcarrying apparatus wherein in a drive device, even if strong tension isnot always applied to the disk cable, the disk cable is not disengagedfrom a drive sprocket easily whereby means for detecting that the diskcable is disengaged is not particularly necessary, and water-proofprocessing with respect to rain water need not be applied, and feed Scan be carried to a distant place; and in a corner joint, the carryingresisting force at the corner can be considerably reduced, and evenpipeline is lengthened and corners are increased, load is not applied tothe disk cable so much whereby the disk cable is not possibly broken ina short period, and the cost of the whole apparatus can be considerablyreduced.

[0043] For achieving the above object, the feed carrying apparatus ofthe present invention is characterized in that a drive device having adrive motor connected to a corner joint is arranged at a corner of thepipeline to drive a drive sprocket constituting a corner joint to movethe disk cable.

[0044] It is still another object of the present invention to provide afeed carrying apparatus wherein in a drive device, where strong tensionis not always applied to the disk cable, the disk cable is notdisengaged from a drive sprocket easily, even if, where the disk cableis disengaged, high load is applied, and breakage occurs, re-mountingand re-adjustment can be made easily, feed S returned is graduallyaccumulated in the drive device, operation of the drive sprocket or thelike is not obstructed, water-proof measures with respect to rain wateror the like need not be applied, and feed S can be carried to a distantplace; and in a corner joint, the carrying resisting force at the cornercan be considerably reduced, and even pipeline is lengthened and cornersare increased, load is not applied to the disk cable so much whereby thedisk cable is not possibly broken in a short period, and the cost of thewhole apparatus can be considerably reduced.

[0045] For achieving the above object, the feed carrying apparatus ofthe present invention is characterized in that a drive device isdisposed at the corner of the pipeline, the drive device having a casingbeing formed with a cable inlet on the upper end of the side wall partand a cable outlet on the bottom wall part, and being formed with anincline wall, and having a drive sprocket arranged separately from theinclined wall within the casing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entirety of one embodiment ofa feed carrying apparatus according to the present invention.

[0047]FIG. 2 is a front view of a part of a disk cable.

[0048]FIG. 3 is a front view of one embodiment of a corner joint used inthe feed carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0049]FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the state that feed aretransported along the corner joint portion shown in FIG. 3.

[0050]FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing one example of a pipelinechannel of the feed carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0051]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the entirety of a furtherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to the presentinvention.

[0052]FIG. 7 is a front view of a further embodiment of a corner jointused in the feed carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0053]FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the state that feed aretransported along the corner joint portion shown in FIG. 7.

[0054]FIG. 9 is a front view of a contact member secured to a supportmember.

[0055]FIG. 10 is a front view of a contact member.

[0056]FIG. 11 is a front view showing a process for the assembly of thecorner joint shown in FIG. 7.

[0057]FIG. 12 is a front view of another embodiment of a corner jointused in the feed carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0058]FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the entirety of anotherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to the presentinvention.

[0059]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the entirety of anotherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus of the present invention.

[0060]FIG. 15(A) is a partly cut front view and FIG. 15(B) is a sidesectional view, respectively, of a drive device used in the feedcarrying apparatus of FIG. 14.

[0061]FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the entirety of anotherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to the presentinvention.

[0062]FIG. 17 is a front sectional view of a drive device used in thefeed carrying apparatus of FIG. 16.

[0063]FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a disk cable tension applyingmechanism used in the feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 16.

[0064]FIG. 19 is a sectional view of a disk cable tension applyingmechanism used in the feed carrying apparatus in FIG. 16.

[0065]FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the entirety of a furtherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus of the present invention.

[0066]FIG. 21(A) is a front sectional view and FIG. 21(B) is a sidesectional view, respectively, of a drive device used in the feedcarrying apparatus of FIG. 20.

[0067]FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of a main part in the vicinity of ashaft coupling of FIG. 21.

[0068]FIG. 23(A) is a front view and FIG. 23(B) is a side sectionalview, respectively, of a drive sprocket housed in a corner joint of FIG.21.

[0069]FIG. 24 is an enlarged view of a main part showing the tooth-formof a drive sprocket of FIG. 23.

[0070]FIG. 25 is an enlarged view of a main part showing the tooth-formof a conventional drive sprocket.

[0071]FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a tension applying device.

[0072]FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the entirety of a feed carryingapparatus of the present invention.

[0073]FIG. 28(A) is a plan sectional view and FIG. 28(B) is a frontsectional view, respectively, of a drive device used in the feedcarrying apparatus of FIG. 27.

[0074]FIG. 29(A) is a back view and FIG. 29(B) is a side sectional view,respectively, of a drive device used in the feed carrying apparatus ofFIG. 27.

[0075]FIG. 30(A) is a front view and FIG. 30(B) is a side sectionalview, respectively, of a drive sprocket.

[0076]FIG. 31 is an enlarged view of a main part showing the tooth-formof a drive sprocket of FIG. 30.

[0077]FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a motor stop mechanism.

[0078]FIG. 33 is an explanatory view showing operation of a motor stopmechanism.

[0079]FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the entirety of an embodiment ofa conventional feed carrying apparatus.

[0080]FIG. 35 is a front view of a part of a centerless auger.

[0081]FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the entirety of a furtherembodiment of a conventional feed carrying apparatus.

[0082]FIG. 37 is a front view of a part of a disk cable.

[0083]FIG. 38(A) is a front view and FIG. 38(B) is a side sectionalview, respectively, of a corner joint used in the feed carryingapparatus of FIG. 36.

[0084]FIG. 39(A) is a partly cutaway front view and FIG. 39(B) is a sidesectional view, respectively, of a drive device used in the feedcarrying apparatus of FIG. 36.

[0085]FIG. 40(A) is a front sectional view and FIG. 40(B) is a sidesectional view, respectively, of a drive device used in the feedcarrying apparatus of FIG. 36.

[0086]FIG. 41(A) is a front sectional view showing the condition at thetime of high load and FIG. 41(B) is a front sectional view showing thecondition at the time of breakage of a wire, respectively, of the drivedevice of FIG. 40.

[0087]FIG. 42 is a perspective view of the entirety of a furtherembodiment of a conventional feed carrying apparatus.

[0088]FIG. 43 is a front sectional view of the entirety of a drivedevice used in the feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 42.

[0089]FIG. 44 is an explanatory view showing one example of a pipelinechannel of a feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 36.

[0090]FIG. 45 is a sectional view showing the condition that feed istransported along a corner joint portion used in the feed carryingapparatus of FIG. 42.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0091] The preferred embodiments of the feed carrying apparatusaccording to the present invention will be described in detailhereinafter with reference to the drawings.

[0092]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entirety of one embodiment ofa feed carrying apparatus according to a disk cable system of thepresent invention; FIG. 2 is a front view of a part of a disk cable;FIG. 3 is a front view of one embodiment of a corner joint used in thefeed carrying apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional viewshowing the state that feed are transported along the corner jointportion shown in FIG. 3.

[0093] In the feed carrying apparatus 1 according to the presentinvention, a number of feeding units 7, 7, . . . are disposed throughfeed falling-down pipes 6, 6, . . . held in a fixed spaced relation on apipeline 3 connected endlesswise, and a driving device 4 for forciblyfeeding in a direction of arrow x a disk cable 2 inserted into thepipeline 3 and connected endlesswise is disposed as shown FIG. 1.

[0094] Further, a feed charging port 5 a is formed at the lower end of afeed hopper 5 indicated by the phantom line, in the figure, feedfalling-downports 6 a are formed at the lower end of the feedfalling-down pipes 6, so that feed S is charged into the pipeline 3 fromthe feed charging port 5 a and carried in the pipeline 3, and thensupplied into the feeding units 7 from the feed falling-down ports 6 a.

[0095] In the disk cable 2, as shown in FIG. 2, the disks 2 b aresecured to a flexible wire 2 a in a fixed spaced relations.

[0096] At corners 3 a of the pipeline 3 are disposed corner joints 8 inwhich bent pipe forming members 9, 10 are placed in contact and securedby collars 9 a, 10 a, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

[0097]FIG. 3(A) is a corner joint 8 in which an external angle (θ) of abent pipe part 11 is 90°, and (B) is a corner joint 28 in which anexternal angle (θ) of a bent pipe part 31 is 45°, either of which aplurality of projections 12, 32 which project inwardly are provided atthe bent pipe parts 11, 31.

[0098] According to the feed carrying apparatus 1 of the presentinvention, since a driving device is not disposed immediately beforeeach corer, and a corner joint having a wheel housed therein is neitherdisposed, the cost of apparatus is materially lowered.

[0099] According to the corner joints 8, 28, as shown in FIG. 4, acircumferential surface of a disk 2 b comes in contact with theplurality of projections 12, 32, being close to the state ofpoint-contacts at a few parts, so that the contact area between thecircumferential surface of the disk 2 b and the internal surfaces of thebent pipe parts 11, 31, and the contact area with feed S is also small,thus being possible to make the frictional force small, and toconsiderably reduce the load applied to a wire 2 a.

[0100] Further, since the behavior of the disk 2 b can be controlled bythe projections 12, 32, micro-vibrations of the wire 2 a both in alongitudinal direction and a diametrical direction can be reduced, thusnot applying an extra load to the wire 2 a and rarely producing noises.

[0101] Further, as shown in FIG. 3, if corner joints having an externalangle (θ) such as the corner joint 8 in which an external angle (θ) of abent pipe part 11 is 90°, and the corner joint 28 in which an externalangle (θ) of a bent pipe part 31 is 45° are prefabricated, the cornerjoints which are different in external angle (θ) can be suitably usedwhereby the pipeline channel can be inclined; and as shown in FIG. 5,since obstacles D, D can be avoided, the pipeline channel can be madesimple and short, and the load applied to the wire 2 a is furtherreduced.

[0102]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the entirety of one embodiment ofa feed carrying apparatus according to a centerless auger system of thepresent invention. Also in a corner 103 a of a pipeline 103 of a feedcarrying apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 6, corner joints 8, 28 are disposedin which bent pipe forming members 9, 10 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 areplaced in contact and secured by collars 9 a, 10 a.

[0103] According to the corner joints 8, 28, the circumferential surfaceof coil 502 a comes in contact with a plurality of projections 12, 32,being close to the state of point-contacts at a few parts, whereby thecontact area between the circumferential surface of the coil 502 a andthe internal surface of the bent pipe parts 11, 31 is small, the contactarea with feed S is also small to enable reducing the frictional force,and the load applied to the coil 502 a can be considerably reduced.

[0104] Thereby, the bent angle of the pipeline 103 at the corner 103 acan be made substantially right angles (θ=90°), whereby the abilitycapable of carrying feed S is considerably enhanced, and the pipelinechannel can be also suitably bent to make it possible to carry feed Sefficiently.

[0105]FIG. 7 is a front view of a further embodiment of a corner joint,and FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the state that feed aretransported along the corner joint portion shown in FIG. 7.

[0106] A corner joint 48 comprises bent pipe forming members 49, 50, andcontact members 53, 54, etc., as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0107] Collars 49 a, 50 a of the bent pipe forming members 49, 50 arebored with bolt inserting holes 55. A bent pipe part 51 is formed with aplurality of projections 52 which project inwardly, both ends of whichare bored with contact member mounting holes 56.

[0108] The contact member 53 is a rod-having a circular cross sectioncurved with the radius of curvature corresponding to the bent pipe part51, the rod being secured by welding or the like to the outercircumference of a plate-like support member 57 formed into a shapecorresponding to the internal collars 49 a, 50 a, as shown in FIGS. 8and 9.

[0109] The contact member 54 is a rod having a circular cross sectioncurved with the radius of curvature corresponding to the bent pipe part51, both ends of which are bent substantially at right angles, as shownin FIGS. 8 and 10.

[0110] The corner joint 48 is constituted by first the bent parts 54 a,54 a of the contact members 54, 54 into the contact member mountingholes 56, 56 of the bent pipe forming members 49, 50, as shown in FIG.11, and securing the contact members 54, 54 to the bent pipe formingmembers 49, 50 by rubber tubes 58, 58, as shown in FIG. 8.

[0111] Afterward, a support member 57 is held by the collars 49 a, 50 ainternally of the bent pipe forming members 49, 50, and a bolt 59 isinserted into bolt inserting holes 55, 55 of the collars 49 a, 50 a, anda bolt inserting hole 57 a of the support member 57, and the bolt istightened by a nut 60 to thereby constitute the corner joint 48, asshown in FIG. 8.

[0112] According to the corner joint 48, as shown in FIG. 8, since thecircumferential surface of the disk 2 b comes in point-contact with thecontact members 53, 54, the contact area between the circumferentialsurface of the disk 2 b and the inner surface of the bent pipe part 51is small, and the contact area with feed S is also small to make itpossible to reduce the frictional force, thus considerably reducing theload applied to the wire 2 a.

[0113] Further, where the contact members 53, 54 become worn due to along period use, the rubber tubes 58, 58, the bolt 59, and the nut 60are removed to disassemble the corner joint 48, and only the contactmembers 53, 54 will suffice to be exchanged. Since the corner joint 48is not necessary to be exchanged, the running cost is lowered, and themaintenance work is simple.

[0114] Where the radius of curvature of the corner joint is large, andwhere the external angle θ is desired to be variously set, bent pipeforming members 69, 70 having a suitable external angle θ, for example,such as 15° may be fabricated, as shown in FIG. 12, the bent pipeforming members 69, 70 being connected in plural so as to constitute thecorner joint 68.

[0115] According to the corner joint 68, corner joints different inexternal angle θ can be easily constituted, and the disposition of thepipeline channel and the avoidance of obstacles or the like can befacilitated.

[0116]FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the entirety of anotherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to the centerlessauger system of the present invention. A driving device 154 is disposedon one end of a pipeline 153 of a feed carrying apparatus 151, a feedcharging port from a feed hopper 155 is provided in the vicinitythereof, the driving device 154 being provided on the other end also.

[0117] Also at a corner 153 a of the pipeline 153 is disposed cornerjoints 8, 28 in which the bent pipe forming members 9, 10 as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 are placed in contact and secured by the collars 9 a, 10a.

[0118] Since in the feed carrying apparatus 151, the driving devices154, 154 are disposed on both ends of the pipeline 153, the cost ofapparatus is somewhat high, but as the carrying force caused by thecenterless auger 502 increases, feed S can be carried more efficientlyas compared with the feed carrying apparatus 101.

[0119]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the entirety showing a furtherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to a disk cable systemof the present invention.

[0120] In the feed carrying apparatus 201, a number of feeding units207, 207, . . . are disposed through feed falling-down pipes 206, 206, .. . held in a fixed spaced relation on a pipeline 203 connectedendlesswise, and a drive device 204 for forcibly feeding in a directionof arrow x a disk cable 2 inserted into the pipeline 203 and connectedendlesswise is disposed, similarly to the conventional feed carryingapparatus.

[0121] A corner joint 208 having a wheel housed therein is disposed at acorner 203 a in which the pipeline 203 is bent substantially at rightangles in the vertical or horizontal direction.

[0122] The construction of the disk cable 2, the feed hopper 205, thefeed falling-down pipe 206, and the feeding unit 207 is similar to thoseof the feed carrying apparatus 1 of FIG. 1.

[0123] The feed carrying apparatus 201 is characterized by a disk cabletension applying mechanism 221 constituted within the drive device 204.

[0124] In the drive device 204, as shown in FIG. 15, a drive sprocket210 is disposed within a casing 209, a disk cable 2 is extended over thedrive sprocket 210, and the drive sprocket 210 is driven by a drivemotor 211 to thereby cause the disk cable 2 to travel.

[0125] The disk cable tension applying mechanism 221 comprises afloating pulley 222 disposed within the casing 209, support members 223,224 for center-supporting the floating pulley 222, guide members 225,226 for sliding and guiding the support members 223, 224, and a weight228 for pulling the floating pulley 222 through the support member 223and a wire 227.

[0126] The support member 223 is that an engaging member 223 b engagedwith the guide member 225 is secured to the back of an L-shaped plate223 a one end of which is bent. The support member 224 is that apawl-like engaging member 224 b engaged with the guide member 226 issecured to the upper end of a suspended rectangular plate 224 a. Bothends of a support shaft 222 a of the floating pulley 222 are secured tothe left end of the L-shaped plate 223 a and the lower end of therectangular plate 224 a.

[0127] The guide members 225, 226 extend in the direction for pullingthe floating pulley 222, and are secured at both ends thereof to asuitable position of the casing 209.

[0128] The weight 228 has the upper surface to which is secured one endof the wire 227, and is suspended externally of the casing 209, and thewire 227 is guided by the pulley 229 to change the direction thereof,and is inserted into the casing 209 and has the other end secured to theright end of the L-shaped plate 223 a.

[0129] Thereby, the load corresponding to the weight of the weight 228is always loaded on the floating pulley 222, and fixed tension is alwaysurged to the disk cable 2 extended over the floating pulley 222.

[0130] Even where the length of the disk cable 2 is elongated due to theuse for a long period, the support members 223, 224 are slidably movedalong the guide members 225, 226, that is, the floating pulley 222 ismoved, and the position of the weight 228 is merely moved down.Therefore, likewise, the load corresponding to the weight of the weight228 is always loaded on the floating pulley 222, and fixed tension isalways urged to the disk cable 2.

[0131] As described above, according to the disk cable tension applyingmechanism 221, since the load is always automatically loaded on thefloating pulley 222 by the weight of the weight 228, fixed tension isalways urged to the disk cable 2 so that the disk cable 2 is notdisengaged from the drive sprocket 210 to cause the disk cable 2 totravel. Of course, the disk cable 2 need not be cut in length.

[0132] Since the floating pulley 222 is center-supported by the supportmembers 223, 224, the support shaft 222 a of the floating pulley 222 israrely displaced, and even after the use for a long period, the floatingpulley 222 can be pulled positively, and the floating pulley 222 can berotated smoothly.

[0133] Further, since gravity of the weight 228 is transmitted to thefloating pulley 222 merely by changing the direction by a single pulley229 through the wire 227, the load is not lowered by the resisting forcein the contact part with the pulley 229 or the pulley 229 can be rotatedeven the use for a long period to apply the elastic force.

[0134]FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the entirety showing anotherembodiment of the feed carrying apparatus according to the disk cabletype of the present invention.

[0135] In the feed carrying apparatus 251, similarly to the conventionalfeed carrying apparatus, a corner joint 258 comprising a bent pipehaving a relatively large radius of curvature is disposed at a corner253 a in which a pipeline 253 is bent substantially at right angles tothe vertical or horizontal direction.

[0136] A drive device 254 having a relatively small horse power and adisk cable tension applying mechanism 271 are disposed in a straightline portion of the pipeline 253 and immediately after the corner 253 a.

[0137] The construction of the disk cable 2, the feed hopper 255, thefeed falling-down pipe 256, and the feeding unit 257 is similar to thoseof the feed carrying apparatus 1 of FIG. 1.

[0138] The feed carrying apparatus 251 is characterized by the diskcable tension applying mechanism 271 constituted separately from a drivedevice 254.

[0139] The drive device 254 is of an extremely simple construction inwhich, as shown in FIG. 17, a drive sprocket 260 is disposed within acasing 259, and the disk cable 2 is placed in contact with a drivesprocket 260 so that the latter is driven by a drive motor to therebycause the disk cable 2 to travel.

[0140] The disk cable tension applying mechanism 271 comprises, as shownin FIG. 18, an inner piping 272 and an outer piping 273 which are placedin contact in inner and outer circumferential surfaces and are slidable,a support frame 274 for supporting the inner piping 272 and the outerpiping 273, a stop member 275 secured to the extreme end of the outerpiping 273, and a weight 277 for pulling the outer piping 273 throughthe stop member 275 and a wire 276.

[0141] The support frame 274 has support plates 279, 279, 279 stoodupright on a support base 278 in a suitably spaced relation. Each of thesupport plates 279, 279, 279 is bored with a piping fitting hole 279 a,and the support plates 279, 279 close to the weight 277 is bored with awire inserting hole 279 b. A pulley 280 is rotatably supported on thesupport plate 279 closest to the weight 277.

[0142] The weight 277 is suspended externally of the support frame 274with one end of the wire 276 secured to a suspension metal fitting 277 asecured to the upper surface thereof. The wire 276 is guided bythe-pulley 280 to change the direction thereof, is inserted into thewire inserting hole 279 b and has the other end secured to the stopmember 275.

[0143] Thereby, the load corresponding to the weight of the weight 277is always loaded on the outer piping 273 to always pull the pipeline 253so as to be elongated whereby fixed tension is always relatively urgedagainst the disk cable 2 inserted into the pipeline 253.

[0144] Even if the length of the disk cable 2 is elongated due to theuse for a long period, the outer piping 273 is slidably moved along theinner piping 272 accordingly, that is, the length of the pipeline 253 iselongated, and the position of the weight 277 is merely moved down.Therefore, naturally, the load corresponding to the weight of the weight277 is always loaded on the outer piping 273, and fixed tension isalways relatively urged against the disk cable 2.

[0145] As described above, according to the disk cable tension applyingmechanism 271, since the outer piping 273 is always pulled by the weightof the weight 277 so that the length of the pipeline 253 isautomatically elongated, fixed tension is always relatively urgedagainst the disk cable 2, requiring no great deal of labor and time forthe tension adjusting work. Since the drive device 254 has no disk cabletension applying mechanism 271 housed therein, the cost of the feedcarrying apparatus 251 is extremely low, and since the drive device 254and disk cable tension applying mechanism 271 are disposed in thestraight line portion of the pipeline 253 and immediately after thecorner 253 a, the fine vibrations in the length direction and thediametrical direction of the disk cable 2 are considerably reduced andthe noises rarely occur.

[0146] Since the drive device 254 is of an extremely simple constructionin which the disk cable 2 is merely placed in contact with the drivesprocket 260, the disk cable 2 is not disengaged due to the drivesprocket 260. Therefore, a switch for detecting the loosening of thedrive sprocket 260 need not be provided.

[0147] While in the disk cable tension applying mechanism 271 shown inFIG. 18, the support frame 274 is provided, and two weights 277, 277 areprovided, it is to be noted that there can be provided a disk cabletension applying mechanism 291 in which a support member 292 forsupporting the inner piping 272 and the outer piping 273, and a singleweight 296 for pulling the outer piping 273 through a stoop member 294and a wire 295 are provided.

[0148] The support member 292 is one in which both ends of a rod arebent substantially at right angles, wherein one end 292 a is secured tothe outer circumferential surface of the inner piping 272, and the otherend 292 b is secured to the outer circumferential surface of a guidemember 293 in the form of a pipe, and the outer circumferential surfaceof the outer piping 273 is brought into contact with the innercircumferential surface of the guide member 293 to make the outer piping273 slidable.

[0149] The wire 295 is secured to a suspension metal fitting 296 ahaving one end secured to the upper surface of the weight 296, and isguided by a pulley 297 supported rotatably on the guide member 293 tochange the direction thereof, and the other end thereof is secured tothe stop member 294 secured to the extreme end of the outer piping 273.

[0150] Even in the disk cable tension applying mechanism 291, the loadcorresponding to the weight of the weight 296 is always loaded on theouter piping 273, the pipeline 253 is always pulled so that the lengthis elongated, and therefore, fixed tension is always relatively urgedagainst the disk cable 2 inserted into the pipeline 253.

[0151] Even if the length of the disk cable 2 is elongated due to theuse for a long period, the outer piping 273 is slidably moved along theinner piping 272 accordingly, that is, the length of the pipeline 253 iselongated, and the position of the weight 296 is merely moved down.Therefore, naturally, the load corresponding to the weight of the weight296 is always loaded on the outer piping 273, and fixed tension isalways relatively urged against the disk cable 2.

[0152]FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the entirety of a furtherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to a disk cable typeof the present invention; FIG. 21(A) is a front sectional view and FIG.21(B) is a side sectional view, respectively, of a drive device used inthe feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 20; FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of amain part in the vicinity of a shaft coupling of FIG. 21; 23(A) is afront view and FIG. 23(B) is a side sectional view, respectively, of adrive sprocket housed in a corner joint; and FIG. 24 is an enlarged viewof a main part sowing the tooth form of a drive sprocket of FIG. 23.

[0153] In the feed carrying apparatus 301, a number of feeding units307, 307, . . . are disposed through feed falling-down pipes 306, 306, .. . held in a fixed spaced relation on a pipeline 303 connectedendlesswise, and a disk cable 2 having disks 2 b secured to a flexiblewire 2 a connected endlesswise in a fixed spaced relation is insertedinto the pipeline 303, similarly to the conventional feed carryingapparatus.

[0154] A drive device 304 or a corner joint 308 is disposed at a corner303 a of the pipeline 303, and a tension applying device 309 is disposedat a suitable position between the corners 303 a of the pipeline 303.

[0155] The construction of the disk cable 2, the feed hopper 305, thefeed falling-down pipe 306, and the feeding unit 307 is similar to thoseof the feed carrying apparatus 1 of FIG. 1.

[0156] In the drive device 304, a drive motor 313 is connected to acorner joint 310 through a shaft coupling 311 and a support member 312.

[0157] The corner joint 310 is comprised of covers 314, 315 and a drivesprocket 316, collars 314 a, 315 a of the covers 314, 315 are bored withfastening bolt holes 316, 317 for fastening the covers 314, 315 togetherand connecting a straight pipe 303 b of the pipeline 303, and the covers314, 315 are bored in their center with rotational shaft fitting holes318, 319.

[0158] A sprocket housing part 323 for a bent pipe 322 for transportingthe disk cable 2 and a sprocket 316 is formed by placing collars 314 a,315 a of the covers 314, 315 and fastening them by bolts 320 and nuts321.

[0159] As shown in FIG. 23, the drive sprocket 316 is comprised of asupport 324, operating plates 325, 326 and connecting pins 327, 327, . .. , the support 324 has support shafts 324 a, 324 b projected on bothsides, fitting holes 325 a, 326 a of the operating plates 325, 326 arefitted in a boss 324 c and fixed by welding or the like, and theoperating plates 325, 326 are connected together by connecting pins 327,327, . . .

[0160] The operating plates 325, 326 are formed in the circumferentialparts with teeth 325 b, 326 b having a special shape, as shown in FIGS.23 and 24. The teeth 325 b, 326 b are designed, different from teeth 640b of a conventional drive sprocket 640 shown in FIG. 25, so that thetooth width b is totally generally narrowed, the tooth width b from theroot to the middle part is gradually widened, and the tooth width b fromthe middle part to the crest is gradually narrowed. A gap c between theteeth adjacent to each other is larger than the tooth width b.

[0161] The operating plates 325, 326 are formed with a plurality ofwindows 325 c, 326 c in a circumferential fixed spacing, as shown inFIG. 23.

[0162] In the corner joint 310, as shown in FIG. 21, one support shaft324 a of the drive sprocket 316 is fitted, in advance, into a rotationalshaft inserting hole 318 of one cover 314, the other cover 315 is thenplaced on one cover 314, and the other support shaft 324 b of the drivesprocket 316 is fitted into the rotational shaft fitting hole 319 of theother cover 315.

[0163] Fastening bolts 320 are inserted into fastening bolt holes 317,317 formed in the covers 314, 315 and fastened by nuts 321 so that thedrive sprocket 316 is rotatable within a sprocket housing part 323, toconstitute the corner joint 310.

[0164] In the drive device 304, the other support shaft 324 b of thedrive sprocket 316 of the corner joint 310 is fitted into a fitting hole311 a of a shaft coupling 311, and a drive shaft 313 a of the drivemotor 313 is fitted into a fitting hole 311 b of the shaft coupling 311.

[0165] One end 312 a of the support member 312 is fastened to the cover315 of the corner joint 310 by a plate screw 328 and a nut 329, theother end 212 b is placed in contact with flange 313 b of the drivemotor 313, and the support shaft 324 b and the drive shaft 313 a arethen fixed to constitute the drive device 304. To the corner joint 308are applied the corner joints 8, 28 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cornerjoint 48 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and the corner joint 68 shown in FIG.12.

[0166] In the tension applying device 309, a fixed pulley 337 and afloating pulley 338 are disposed within a casing 336, as shown in FIG.26, and the disk cable 2 is extended over the fixed pulley 337 and thefloating pulley 338 for traveling. A support member 339 is secured tothe floating pulley 338, the support member 339 is made movably up anddown along a guide lever 340, one end of a wire 341 is secured to hesupport member 339, and a weight 342 is hung on the other end wherebythe floating pulley 338 is always tensed upward to apply tension to thedisk cable 2.

[0167] According to the tension applying device 309, the loadcorresponding to the weight of the weight 342 is always applied to thefloating pulley 338, whereby fixed tension is always urged against thedisk cable 2 extended over the floating pulley 338. Even if the lengthof the disk cable 2 is elongated due to the use for a long period, thefloating pulley 338 is moved upward accordingly, but naturally, the loadcorresponding to the weight of a weight 342 is loaded on the floatingpulley 338, and fixed tension is always urged against the disk cable 2.

[0168] According to the feed carrying apparatus 301 of the presentinvention, the drive device 304 is disposed at the corner 303 a of thepipeline 303, and the drive sprocket 316 constituting the corner joint310 is driven to move the disk cable 2. Therefore, the carryingresisting force in the corner 303 a can be considerably reduced, andwhen the pipeline 303 is elongated and the corners 303 a increases, theload applied to the disk cable 2 is not made so high, and no breakagelikely occurs in a short period.

[0169] The drive sprocket 316 is constituted such that the operatingplates 325, 326 are fitted in the boss 324 c of the support 324, and theoperating plates 325, 326 are connected together by the connecting pins327, 327, . . . and the operating plates 325, 326 are formed with aplurality of windows 325 c, 326 c to make larger a space in which feed Smay flow within the sprocket housing part 323 and also may flow passingthrough the plurality of windows 325 c, 326 c, whereby the frictionalresistance with respect to feed S can be considerably reduced, and thedrive sprocket 316 can be rotated smoothly.

[0170] Moreover, since the space in which feed S may flow is made largeand may flow smoothly, feed S is not compressed and crushed in thenarrow space within the wheel housing part 623 and the bent pipe 624, asin the conventional wheel 625, but feed S having an adequate grain sizewhich is almost the same as the initial condition can be transported.

[0171] Further, the operating plates 325, 326 are formed with the teeth325 b, 326 b having a special shape as mentioned above, and the gap cbetween the teeth adjacent to each other is made larger than the toothwidth b. Therefore, even when tension of the disk cable 2 becomesweakened, the disk 2 b of the disk cable 2 is not fallen out of the gapc between the teeth adjacent to each other, and the feed S present inthe gap c between the teeth adjacent to each other applies no pressureto the disk 2 b of the disk cable 2 to fall out the disk 2 b.

[0172] The drive device 304 is disposed at the corner 303 a to drive thedrive sprocket 316 constituting the corner joint 310 so as to move thedisk cable 2 on the same plane. Therefore, means for avoidingsuperposition of the disk cable 2 need not be provided, and even ifstrong tension is not always applied to the disk cable 2, the disk cable2 is not disengaged from the drive sprocket 316.

[0173] Therefore, it is not necessary to arrange means for detecting thedisengagement of the disk cable 2 to always monitor it, and of course, amechanism for applying tension to the disk cable 2 in the drive device304 need not be disposed, and the constitution of the drive device 304is very simple and inexpensive.

[0174] Further, since the corner joint 310 constituting the drive device304 is similar in constitution to the conventional corner joint exceptthe drive sprocket 316, the wheel 625 housed in the corner joint 608 maybe exchanged with the drive sprocket 316 in the conventional feedcarrying apparatus 601. Work for re-laying the pipeline 603 is notnecessary, and the drive device 304 can be installed simply. It ispossible to select, as necessary, whether or not the drive device 304 issuitably disposed at the corner 603 a, or whether or not theconventional corner joint 608 is disposed.

[0175] Further, the support shafts 324 a, 324 b are formed on both sidesof the support 324 of the drive sprocket 316, and the drive motor 313 isconnected to the corner joint 310 by the shaft coupling 311 and thesupport member 312. Therefore, according to the situation around thedrive corner 303 a, the shaft coupling 311 and the support member 312are mounted on the suitable side of the corner joint 310, and the drivemotor 313 can be installed on the suitable side easily.

[0176] Furthermore, since the drive motor 313 can be easily removed,where the teeth 325 b, 326 b of the operating plates 325, 326 becomeworn and broken, a separate drive sprocket 316 can be installed simply.

[0177] Further, since the drive device 304 of the present invention isdisposed at the corner 303 a in which feed S is present internally ofthe pipeline 303, it can be disposed in a pigsty, a henhouse or thelike, and water-proof processing for preventing rain water or the likefrom entering need not be applied.

[0178] Moreover, since the drive device 304 of the present invention canbe disposed at a plurality of corners 303 a of the pipeline 403, thelength of the driving disk cable 2 is not limited to about 200 m, butthe feed S can be carried to a distant place.

[0179] The drive device 304 of the present invention is used togetherwith the corner joints 8, 28, 48, and 58 whereby feed S can be carriedvery effectively and smoothly, and the constitution of the carryingapparatus 301 can be extremely simplified.

[0180]FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the entirety of anotherembodiment of a feed carrying apparatus according to a disk cable typeof the present invention; FIG. 28(A) is a plan sectional view and FIG.28(B) is a front sectional view, respectively, of a drive device used inthe feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 27; FIG. 29(A) is a back view andFIG. 29(B) is a side sectional view, respectively, of a drive deviceused in the feed carrying apparatus of FIG. 27; FIG. 30(A) is a frontview and FIG. 30(B) is a side sectional view, respectively, of a drivesprocket; and FIG. 31 is an enlarged view of a main part showing thetooth-form of a drive sprocket of FIG. 30.

[0181] In the feed carrying apparatus 401, a number of feeding units407, 407, . . . are disposed through feed falling-down pipes 406, 406, .. . held in a fixed spaced relation on a pipeline 403 connectedendlesswise, and a disk cable 2 having disks 2 b secured to a flexiblewire 2 a connected endlesswise in a fixed spaced relation is insertedinto the pipeline 403, similarly to the conventional feed carryingapparatus.

[0182] A drive device 404 or a corner joint 408 is disposed at a corner403 a of the pipeline 403.

[0183] The construction of the disk cable 2, the feed hopper 645, thefeed falling-down pipe 406, and the feeding unit 407 is similar to thoseof the feed carrying apparatus 1 of FIG. 1.

[0184] In the drive device 404, as shown in FIG. 28, a drive sprocket410 is disposed within a casing 409, the disk cable 2 is extended overthe drive sprocket 410, and the drive sprocket 410 is driven by a drivemotor 411 to cause the disk cable 2 to travel.

[0185] The casing 409 comprises an upper side wall 409 a, side walls 409b, 409 c, inclined walls 409 d, 409 e, a bottom wall 409 f, a front wall409 g, and a back wall 409 h, and the side wall 409 b is formed in itsupper end with a cable introducing port 412 and the bottom wall 409 fformed with a cable discharge port 413. The bottom wall 409 f is formedwith a sliding cutaway part 414 in a horizontal direction.

[0186] One ends of pipeline 403, 403 are connected to the cableintroducing port 412 and the cable discharge port 413, respectively, sothat feed S carried from a piping 403H arranged horizontally isintroduced into the casing 409 from the cable introducing port 412,flows downward along the inclined wall 409 d, and is discharged to apiping 403V disposed vertically from the cable discharge port 413.

[0187] The drive sprocket 410 is disposed substantially in the uppercentral part in the casing 409, and comprises a support 415, operatingplates 416, 417, and connecting pins 418, 418, . . .

[0188] The support 415 is formed on both sides thereof with projectingparts 415 a, 415 b, and formed in the central part with a fitting hole415 c, and a threaded hole 415 d is formed at right angles to thefitting hole 415 c.

[0189] The operating plates 416, 417 are formed in the central part withfitting holes 416 a, 417 a, around which are formed a plurality ofwindows 416 b, 417 b in a fixed spaced relation in the circumferentialdirection. Further, teeth 416 c, 417 c having a special shape are formedin the peripheral part, the teeth 416 c, 417 c being formed withconnecting holes 416 d, 417 d, respectively.

[0190] The projecting parts 415 a, 415 b of the support 415 are fittedin the fitting holes 416 a, 417 a of the operating plates 416, 417 andfixed by welding or the like. The operating plates 416, 417 areconnected together by fitting both ends of the connecting pins 418, 418into the connecting holes 416 d, 417 d to weld them.

[0191] A drive shaft 411 a of the drive motor 411 is fitted into afitting hole 415 c, a stop screw 419 is engaged with a threaded hole 415d, and the drive shaft 411 a is pressed by the stop screw 419 wherebythe drive sprocket 410 is secured to the drive shaft 411 a.

[0192] The teeth 416 c, 417 c having a special shape are designed, asshown in FIGS. 30 and 31, different from the teeth of the conventionaldrive sprocket shown in FIG. 25, so that the tooth width b is totallygenerally narrowed, the tooth width b from the root part to the middlepart is gradually widened, and the tooth width b from the middle part tothe root part is gradually narrowed. The gap c between the teethadjacent to each other is larger than the tooth width b.

[0193] A motor sliding mechanism 420 is disposed on the back of thecasing 409, as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, the motor sliding mechanism 420comprising support members 421, 422, guide levers 423, 423, a motorfixing plate 424, an operating shaft 425, a handle 426, and a stopper427.

[0194] The support members 421, 422 are secured to both ends of the backwall 409 h of the casing 409, and the support members 421, 422 supportboth ends of the guide levers 423, 423.

[0195] In the motor fixing plate 424, circular pipes 424 b, 424 b aresecured by welding or the like to the upper and lower ends of the flatplate 424 a, and the guide levers 423, 423 are inserted into thecircular pipes 424 b, 424 b so that the motor fixing plate 424 may beslidably moved along the guide levers 423, 423.

[0196] The operating shaft 425 has one end secured to the central parton one side of the motor fixing plate 424 through the support member428, the middle part thereof being inserted into and supported in theinserting bole 429 a of the support member 429, a female thread part 426a formed in the proximal end of the handle 426 and a female thread part427 a formed in the proximal end of the stopper 427 being engaged with amale thread part 425 a of the operating shaft 425.

[0197] A motor stop mechanism 430 is disposed on the upper-right side inthe casing 409, as shown in FIGS. 28 and 32, the motor stop mechanism430 comprising a support plate 431, a swing plate 432, a limit switch433, and a magnet 434.

[0198] In the support plate 431, as shown in FIG. 28 and 32, a bentplate 431 a is projected externally of the casing 409 from the slidingcutaway part 414 formed in the back wall 409 h of the casing 409, andsecured to the motor fixing plate 424, and a rectangular plate 431 bthereof is arranged in the vicinity on the right side of the drivesprocket 410.

[0199] The swing plate 432 is supported slidably on the support plate431 through the support shaft 435, but is normally in the statesuspended in a vertical direction as shown in FIG. 32.

[0200] A limit switch 433 is secured to the middle part of the supportplate 431, and a magnet 434 secured to the lower end through the supportmember 436.

[0201] According to the drive device 404, first, the stopper 427 isrotated to assume the state that the handle 426 may be rotated, thehandle 426 is then rotated to move the operating shaft 425 to suitablyslidably move the drive motor 411 in a horizontal direction; then, thestopper 427 is reversal rotated to assume the state that the handle 426may not be rotated to enable application of adequate tension to the diskcable 2.

[0202] The disk cable 2 having traveled substantially in the horizontaldirection within the piping 403H in the state with the adequate tensionapplied is introduced into the casing 409 from the cable introducingport 412 and applied with the driving force by the drive sprocket 410,and changed in direction by approximately 90° so that it travelssubstantially in the vertical direction, and discharged from the cabledischarge port 413 to the piping 403V.

[0203] On the other hand, feed S having been transported from the piping403H is introduced from the cable introducing port 412 into the casing409, is flown down along the inclined wall 409 d due to the gravity, andis discharged from the cable discharge port 413 to the piping 403Vdisposed in the vertical direction.

[0204] To the corner joint 408 are applied the corner joints 8, 28 shownin FIGS. 3 and 4, the corner joints 48 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, or thecorner joint 68 shown in FIG. 12.

[0205] According to the present invention, the drive device 404 isdisposed at the corner 403 a, and the drive sprocket 410 also serving asthe corner joint is driven so as to move the disk cable 2 on the sameplane. Therefore, means for avoiding superposition of the disk cable 2need not be provided, and even if strong tension is not always appliedto the disk cable 2, the disk cable 2 is not disengaged from the drivesprocket 410.

[0206] According to the drive device 404, feed S having been transportedfrom the piping 403H is flown down along the inclined wall 409 d due tothe gravity, and is discharged from the cable discharge port 413 to thepiping 403V disposed in the vertical direction; and since the drivesprocket 410 is arranged at a position separately from the inclined wall409 d, the feed S is neither gradually accumulated within the drivedevice 404 nor moved into the shaft of the drive sprocket 410.

[0207] Further, in the drive device 404, a position of dispositionthereof can be suitably selected as far as the corner 403 a of thepipeline 403, in terms of mechanism, and therefore, if it is disposedwithin a pigsty, a henhouse or the like, no consideration need be takenabout application of water-proof measures so as to prevent rain water orthe like from entering.

[0208] Further, since a plurality thereof can be disposed within thepipeline 403 channel, the length of the driving disk cable 2 can beextended to a considerable extent as compared with prior art, notrequiring the provision of a plurality of the feed carrying apparatuses401.

[0209] According to the drive device 404, the disengagement of the diskcable 2 from the drive sprocket 410 scarcely occurs, but if the diskcable 2 should be disengaged from the drive sprocket 410 or the diskcable 2 should be broken, or the disk cable 2 should be elongated, thedisk cable 2 presses the swing plate 432, and the swing plate 432 swingsto the right hand, as shown in FIG. 33(B). At that time, since the swingplate 432 is adsorbed by the magnet 434, the operating lever 433 a ofthe limit switch 433 is to be pressed positively.

[0210] Thereby, it is possible to always monitor the state that the diskcable 2 is disengaged, the breakage occurs, or the disk cable 2 iselongated.

[0211] Further, where an operator immediately performs re-mounting orre-adjustment, in the drive device 404, the floating pulley is notpresent, and the disk cable 2 is extended by mere ¼ over the drivesprocket 410, thus making the mounting and adjusting work extremelyeasy.

[0212] The drive device 404 is used jointly with the corner joint 408whereby feed S can be carried extremely efficiently and smoothly, and inaddition, the constitution of the feed carrying apparatus 401 can beextremely simplified.

What is claimed is:
 1. A feed carrying apparatus for carrying feed to anumber of feeing units through pipeline from a feed hopper,characterized in that a corner joint formed with a plurality ofprojections which project inwardly is disposed on a bent pipe part.
 2. Afeed carrying apparatus for carrying feed by traveling a disk cableconnected endlessly in a pipeline connected endlessly, characterized inthat a corner joint formed with a plurality of projections which projectinwardly is disposed on a bent pipe part.
 3. The feed carrying apparatusaccording to claim 1 or 2 , wherein said corner joint comprises bentpipe forming members formed at the bent pipe part with a plurality ofprojections which project inwardly, and a plurality of contact memberscurved with the radius of curvature corresponding to the bent pipe part.4. The feed carrying apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein in saidcorner joint, said contact members are exchangeable.
 5. The feedcarrying apparatus according to claims 1 to 4 , wherein in said cornerjoint has the bent pipe forming members formed at the bent pipe partwith a plurality of projections which project inwardly connectedthereto.
 6. A feed carrying apparatus for carrying feed by traveling adisk cable connected endlessly in a pipeline connected endlessly, saidapparatus comprising a disk cable tension regulating mechanism in whicha load corresponding to weight of a weight is loaded whereby fixedtension is always applied to the disk cable.
 7. The feed carryingapparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said disk cable tensionregulating mechanism is so designed that a floating pulley housed in adrive device is pulled by a weight through a wire.
 8. The feed carryingapparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said disk cable tensionregulating mechanism is so designed that an outer piping slidable in aninner piping is pulled by a weight through a wire.
 9. A feed carryingapparatus for carrying feed by traveling a disk cable connectedendlessly in a pipeline connected endlessly, characterized in that adrive device having a drive motor connected to a corner joint isdisposed at a corner of said pipeline to drive a drive sprocketconstituting the corner joint to move the disk cable.
 10. The feedcarrying apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein said drive sprocket isso designed that operating plates are secured to both sides of a supporthaving a projecting support shaft, said operating plates being connectedtogether by connecting pins.
 11. The feed carrying apparatus accordingto claim 10 , wherein said operating plates have a tooth form whosetooth width gradually becomes wider from a root part to an intermediatepart, and whose tooth width gradually becomes narrow from theintermediate part to the root part, the teeth being formed so that aclearance between the teeth adjacent to each other is larger than thetooth width.
 12. A feed carrying apparatus for carrying feed bytraveling a disk cable connected endlessly in a pipeline connectedendlessly, having a casing formed with a cable introducing port at anupper end of a side wall, a cable discharge port at a bottom wall, andformed with an inclined wall, wherein a drive device having a drivesprocket arranged away from said inclined wall within said casing isdisposed at a corner of said pipeline.
 13. The feed carrying apparatusaccording to claim 12 , wherein said drive sprocket is secured to adrive motor, and a motor sliding mechanism for sliding the drive motorfor sliding the drive motor is disposed.
 14. The feed carrying apparatusaccording to claim 12 or 13 , wherein a motor stop mechanism is disposedwhich moves along with said drive sprocket in a fixed spaced relation,and stops the drive motor at the time of emergency.